Yes, for beginners who can already read simple sentences. Diary of a Wimpy Kid is written as a middle-schooler's journal, with a drawing on nearly every page helping you, and the English stays close to how American kids actually talk.
- Level
- Beginner
- Format
- Book
- Year
- 2007
Why it works for learners
Greg writes in short, chatty entries about school, family and friends, so you get first-person past tense and everyday words rather than literary description. The cartoons often carry the joke, which gives you a second way into a sentence you half understood. Dated entries make natural stopping points, and finishing a whole book in English early on is a real boost.
What makes it hard
The jokes rely on irony: Greg is an unreliable narrator, and the funny part is often the gap between his words and the drawing. American school terms and kid slang may be new, and phrasal verbs turn up constantly.
How to use it
Read a few diary entries per sitting without a dictionary, using the drawings to guess. Mark only words that come back three times. When you finish, read the same pages again; you should notice how much faster they go.
Keep it where you'll see it
Save Diary of a Wimpy Kid and log every episode or chapter toward your English hours. Free for one language.
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